Page 6

He nodded, focusing on the screw he was twisting into the bed frame. “I got home from work, and the lights wouldn’t work on one side of the house. Called an electrician, and he said it’s a miracle the house hasn’t gone down in an electrical fire.”

My heart skipped. “Seriously?”

“Yep.” He set the part aside and moved on to connecting the slats. “Wipes out all my savings to have it replaced and then some, but I’d rather that than a house fire.”

I frowned. “I’m sorry, Daddy.” I wished I could help, but all my money was being saved for the salon.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m just glad you’re back. I know we talked on the phone almost every day, but I still missed you all these years while you were busy in the big city.”

“I know. It was just hard to come back here after... and then with work...” I didn’t finish the sentence, and he didn’t ask me to. “How did you stay in that house after Mom left?”

He shrugged. “At the time, I was trying not to think about myself. It seemed like it would be harder on you to lose your mom and your house. So I focused on the good times instead of the bad and hoped it would get better.”

“Did it?” I asked. Because seeing Rhett today had brought back all those feelings I thought I’d buried years ago. I’d been beside myself, so angry with him and hurt all over again.

“It did.” He smiled. “Sometimes you can’t go somewhere new. You have to create new memories right over the top of the old.”

The front door opened, and Cam called, “Honeyyy, I’m hoooome.”

Dad and I exchanged a grin. She used to say the same thing when she came over to our house to visit when we were teens. “Been a while since I heard that,” Dad called back.

She came into the room, still wearing her scrubs from work, and bent to give Dad a hug. “Good to see you, Ray.”

“You too, sweetie,” Dad said.

Cam said, “I’m going to get changed. Come tell me about your first day, Mags.”

I followed her back to her room, and while she dressed, I relayed my run-in with Rhett and his new, terrible haircut.

She covered her mouth, laughing. “Talk about payback.”

I laughed. “I’m just lucky Rhonda didn’t fire me on the spot.”

“She could never. So when are you seeing him for dinner?”

I raised my eyebrows. “I’m not going to dinner with him. The last thing we need is the two of us in a room with steak knives.”

Cam turned, pulling on one of her old volleyball shirts. After ten years, the fabric was thinning and had holes in some places, but she never stopped wearing it.

“What?” I asked, knowing her silence meant something.

“I mean...” She turned back to me, adjusting the hem of her shirt. “Ithasbeen fifteen years.”

“Fourteen,” I corrected.

“Over a decade.” She reached in her closet for the flip-flops she wore around the house and slid them on. “It’s a small town, and we’re going to be here for a while. Don’t you think it’s time to bury the hatchet?”

“In his back?”

She snorted. “Think about it, okay? If nothing else, it’s a free meal.”

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you? There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Laughing, she patted my shoulder. “I think you should do it. Besides... what could go wrong?”

4

RHETT